Monday, August 01, 2016

Welcome to the Blue, Josh Fields!

The Dodgers have added another reliever to their stable, and barring any injuries is likely to be sent to Triple-A Oklahoma City. In other words, this recent trade is all about depth. The Dodgers have traded 18-year old Cuban first baseman Yordan Alvarez (just signed out of Las Tunas, Cuba in June) to the Astros for right-handed reliever Josh Fields. Per Dodgers press release:

Fields, 30, went 1-0 with one save and a 1.65 ERA in 23 relief appearances for the Astros’ Triple-A Fresno this season, limiting opponents to a .192 batting average with a 0.65 WHIP. He also made 15 appearances for the Astros this year, posting a 6.89 ERA (12 ER/15.2 IP), and went 9-10 with nine saves and a 4.53 ERA in 164 big-league games with Houston in four seasons from 2013-16, averaging better than a strikeout per inning in the Majors with 197 Ks in 159.0 innings. He was originally selected by the Mariners in the first round (20th overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Georgia.

Josh Fields is a 30 year old reliever from the Astros. He is arbitration-eligible this year and won’t be a free agent until 2019. On the surface, his 6.89 ERA in 15.2 innings looks very bad. But his FIP is 2.81 and he’s struck out 28.2 percent of batters he’s faced while walking 4.2 percent. Those numbers are promising, and his .457 BABIP against suggests he’s been unlucky. He’s also stranded all six of the runners he’s inherited.

Yordan Alvarez heads to Houston. Alvarez was the final international signing the Dodgers made in their last signing period. The 19-year-old first baseman has yet to play since coming over from Cuba. His most recent Cuban stats on baseball reference were from 2014, when Alvarez posted a .351/.402/.387 line in 125 plate appearances.

In celebration of Josh joining the club I made the
above fantasy Baseball card of him. I used a photo grabbed from OnlineAthens and the 1985 Topps Baseball card design (his birth year).

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